Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 482984

Shown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

Deep_Brain_Stimulation

Posted by EERRIICC on April 11, 2005, at 18:22:34

I hope everyone is hanging in there and doing the best they can; the future looks bright...

Helen Mayberg is the Toronto doctor who delineated the theoretical logic of using implanted electrodes to "stimulate the brain"; relocating the stimulation region but esentially performing the same surgery that is used to stop Parkinson's tremor. This article by Dr.Mayberg was published five years ago, it shows her thinking prior to her realization that DBS could be used to test her hypothesis.

Here is the article:

"Depression leaves sufferer at a loss Restoring blood balance in the brain key to treatment, researcher says"

Saturday, May 1, 1999
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

If you can't lose the blues, it's because you aren't thinking straight.

For the first time, a researcher in Canada has offered an explanation for why people who are very sad or depressed lose the ability to concentrate and think through their problems.

Dr. Helen Mayberg says two parts of the brain work like the ends of a see-saw. When a person is experiencing strong emotions, blood flow increases in the brain's emotional centre, with a corresponding decrease in the area that handles thinking.

But while the balance of the blood flow evens out quickly in healthy people, allowing them to snap out of their muddle, the imbalance persists in people suffering from depression, bringing malaise and loss of appetite.

The finding suggests that treatments could focus on this brain balance and shorten the time it takes to get better, said Dr. Mayberg, who holds the Rotman chair in neuropsychiatry at the University of Toronto and Baycrest Centre.

She also found that drugs such as the antidepressant Prozac and therapy can both help restore the balance.

The study used brain scans showing differences in activity in the limbic area, which registers emotions, and the cortical region, where thoughts are processed.

Scans were taken of eight men and eight women with severe depression and compared with eight other subjects who had no symptoms of depression.

When the healthy people were scanned, they were told to recite the details of an extremely sad experience in their lives.

The patients were in tears within a few minutes, and the brain images showed a reduction of 10 to 15 per cent in blood flow in the thinking region, along with up to 20-per-cent reduction in the area's energy use.

After their sad thoughts stopped, the imbalance disappeared within minutes.

The depressed patients did not recover on their own, but with therapy achieved a balance after two to 15 weeks. Half were given Prozac, while the rest took a placebo. All of them had cognitive therapy, a counselling treatment that trained them to shift their attention away from their mood and develop coping strategies.

The results appear today in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

"What you need to do to get well is decrease the activity in the limbic region in the lower rear of the brain," Dr. Mayberg said in an interview. She said it is not a question of thinking harder, but of refocusing.

She said antidepressants have effects on many parts of the brain and future medications might be designed to home in more directly on this problem."

 

Re: Deep_Brain_Stimulation » EERRIICC

Posted by Phillipa on April 11, 2005, at 18:47:11

In reply to Deep_Brain_Stimulation, posted by EERRIICC on April 11, 2005, at 18:22:34

That sounds promising. Fondly, Phillipa

 

Half Baked!

Posted by WeeWilly on April 11, 2005, at 19:59:05

In reply to Re: Deep_Brain_Stimulation » EERRIICC, posted by Phillipa on April 11, 2005, at 18:47:11

This theory does not make much sense. It is a fact that many of us suffer from an endocrine disorder that causes mood problems. To overlook these biochemical imbalances and jump to psychosurgery is crude at best. Best wishes

 

Re: Half Baked! » WeeWilly

Posted by Maxime on April 11, 2005, at 21:09:21

In reply to Half Baked!, posted by WeeWilly on April 11, 2005, at 19:59:05

> This theory does not make much sense. It is a fact that many of us suffer from an endocrine disorder that causes mood problems. To overlook these biochemical imbalances and jump to psychosurgery is crude at best. Best wishes

Hi WW

I'm curious. What do you think PET scans shows, for example when it shows that a certain part of the brain is indeed "depression" or hot spots that show "mania". How do you link that with endocrine disorders?

I really am interested in your opinion. And what do you think think comes first and how does the brain get involved?

I hope my questions makes sense.

Maxime

 

Re: Half Baked!

Posted by WeeWilly on April 12, 2005, at 9:43:42

In reply to Re: Half Baked! » WeeWilly, posted by Maxime on April 11, 2005, at 21:09:21

Pet scans can show abnormal activity. The questions we do not know the answers to are what causes these abnormal activities. Practically all of our systems are intertwined. We all have our unique biochemistry. If you look up research dealing with the effect the reproductive hormones have on mood and cognition, you will find that these hormones can have dramatic effects. They have not quite put the puzzle together but it should'nt be much longer. I am most interested in Inhibin B, because I believe i do not produce enough of this substance. Back in 1987 when I first heard of it, I was told by researchers and docs that Inhibin b had a simple role of suppressing FSH . Recent discoveries have found this is not its only function. Eventually they will find that Inhibin B is as significant to our mood and cognition as estrogen and testosterone. It absolutely amazes me that I have suspected this for 18 years and up to now I doubt anyone esle on this planet has ever considered this possibility. Best wishes

 

Re: Half Baked! » WeeWilly

Posted by Maxime on April 12, 2005, at 11:28:14

In reply to Re: Half Baked!, posted by WeeWilly on April 12, 2005, at 9:43:42

Ah, okay I understand what you are saying now. The problem with western medicine is that it it gets stucks with "treatment" (i.e. meds) and loses the importance of the patient and underlying causes to various symptoms. There always seems to be some medication of the month. It's scary to think what it will be like 25 years from now when people find out what taking all this medication has done to their bodies.

There have been many advances in medicine, but there are so many way that it has remained in the dark ages.

Maximd


> Pet scans can show abnormal activity. The questions we do not know the answers to are what causes these abnormal activities. Practically all of our systems are intertwined. We all have our unique biochemistry. If you look up research dealing with the effect the reproductive hormones have on mood and cognition, you will find that these hormones can have dramatic effects. They have not quite put the puzzle together but it should'nt be much longer. I am most interested in Inhibin B, because I believe i do not produce enough of this substance. Back in 1987 when I first heard of it, I was told by researchers and docs that Inhibin b had a simple role of suppressing FSH . Recent discoveries have found this is not its only function. Eventually they will find that Inhibin B is as significant to our mood and cognition as estrogen and testosterone. It absolutely amazes me that I have suspected this for 18 years and up to now I doubt anyone esle on this planet has ever considered this possibility. Best wishes

 

Re: Half Baked!

Posted by banga on April 12, 2005, at 11:57:40

In reply to Re: Half Baked! » WeeWilly, posted by Maxime on April 12, 2005, at 11:28:14

> Ah, okay I understand what you are saying now. The problem with western medicine is that it it gets stucks with "treatment" (i.e. meds) and loses the importance of the patient and underlying causes to various symptoms.

I also am flabbergasted that the drug companies are allowed to say that depression is *caused* by a lack of neurotransmitters in the brain.

We do not know that, in fact I think medication that affects neurotransmitters is somewhat like putting a band-aid on the actual cause....and it cannot be that there is ONE cause, that is silly. That's what I want to say to drug companies, "you're silly." I am sure they would be highly offended and concerned, and in the end change all their advertisement...I would be famous, they would call it the 'Banga Bill'.


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